Energy saving with Reverberi range SEC STP controllers and remote control system for mast of port
BACKGROUND
In the spring of 1999 Revetec supplied the "Candiano" canal lighting plant, in the port of Ravenna with a complete lighting control and supervision system. The area is lit up by 10 light-houses towers, each fitted 12 projectors running on high pressure sodium (1000 W) lamps, divided up into 4 sets, with 3 lamps to each set. The sets of lamps on each tower can be activated separately to consent different lighting levels. The project objectives were: plant versatility, assured by the fact that towers and even single projectors can be lit up separately depending on which area of the canal is to be lit; optimisation of maintenance, obtainable via constant monitoring of tower status. And in this case all made possible via centralised control unit.
THE SOLUTION
The real heart of the solution was in the decision to use reverber SEC ST 16 (3 x 5,3 kVA) light controllers. 10 were installed, one per lighthouse tower, managed by two control units (at the moment only the one in the harbour office is working), which consist off two radio modems and a PC with dedicated manager software. The addition of a display interface safety module means that the plant can continue to be controlled even in the event of PC failure. The control unit, via radio, consents all the towers situated along the canal to be switched on and off and for different sets of lamps on the same tower to be lit up separately. Furthermore, the controllers reply to control unit cycle interrogation by supplying a series of information relative to the status of each light: energy uptake, electrical entity (voltage, current, phase displacement etc.) possible status of alarms (light fails to come on, safety device activated, values outside thresholds etc).
THE BENEFITS
In this application the controllers are exclusively used as input voltage stabilisers, protecting the lamps from spikes and excessive increases and hence guaranteeing increased longevity and postponing natural creep factor. Lamp life can be tripled, with a net saving on maintenance costs. Diagnostics on system performance also consent rationalisation of maintenance costs: it is possible to carry out swift targeted intervention as soon as an alarm comes up, planning intervention on the basis of analysis of information acquired by control unit, improving quality in service as well as guaranteeing better safety and plant efficiency.
